Completed: Laughing Moon 115 Chemise/HSM May ’22

For the May Historical Sew Monthly challenge the theme was "Protection." I decided to tackle this theme literally and make a new chemise (mostly because I really needed a new one and it was the only challenge that seemed to fit when I made up my list!) Chemises/shifts protected the body from chafing from the…

Completed: Black Snail 0119 Regency Gown for HSM June ’22

Photo by author. June Challenge Theme "At the Museum: Be inspired by the items and research available in museums and archives." Fabric from extant gown. Image from Augusta Auctions. My object of inspiration was the textile in this gown, which was previously part of the Suddon-Cleaver Costume Collection. Below you can see the gown in…

Black Snail 0119 WIP Update 2

Amazingly, it will have only taken me just over a month to nearly complete this project! I'm pretty slow at sewing, even by machine, so I wasn't feeling too positive about hand-sewing this. Fortunately I'd already made my mock-up last year, but I did have to do another fitting. What I didn't anticipate was that…

Progress on Black Snail 0119 Regency Dress

In my last post I introduced my newest project for the Historical Sew Monthly's June challenge. (It doesn't actually matter in what order you do the challenges.) The cutting out, as usual was the most difficult and time consuming step. I did cut one sleeve wrong, and I accidentally cut the skirt with the train,…

HSM June ’22: At the Museum

I've just begun my entry for the June HSM challenge and thought I'd go ahead and give some background on how this project came to be. My plan is to finish it by mid-August to wear at my JASNA region's annual retreat. I've splurged and will be staying over for the retreat along with some…

Completed: LM 115 Regency Long Stays (HSM ’22 #1)

This post is a summary of my more long-winded, narrative-style posts about these stays as a work-in-progress: toile, #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5. Progress photos from these posts have not been re-posted here. These stays were sewn in preparation for my thesis work, for which I am recreating a ca. 1810-1815 dress in order…

WIP: LM Regency Long Stays Part 5

Photo by author. Slowly but surely I have come to the end of my stays making project! Starting it in August of 2021, I have finished it in February of 2022. How naive I was to think it would take but a month or two to complete! I will have a "completed project" post up…

WIP: LM Regency Long Stays Part 4

Since my last I posted I really got cranking on finishing these. First, I put in the bust darts that I decided I needed in the last fitting. Left bust dart (interior). Photo by author. Right bust dart (interior). Photo by author. Next, I re-hemmed the CB edge by double folding, as I didn't want…

WIP: LM Regency Long Stays Part 3

Photo by author. Work has not progressed as quickly as I would have liked for this final stretch. I was delayed by the holidays and then by the fact that my sewing room had devolved into a very messy storage space over the past year. After a day and a half spent tidying it, I…

WIP: LM Regency Long Stays Part 2

Photo by author. This past week I managed to get my Laughing Moon #115 stays to the point where I could take them to my mentors for a fitting. I elected not to trim any of the excess yet, just to be on the safe side. I safety pinned the side seams together and had…